Sneaky Devil

 “Discipline yourselves, keep alert.  Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter :8-9)

             I have a friend who, when referring to someone who is shrewd, says, “He’s a sneaky devil.”  That’s exactly what I want to speak about this morning: “The Sneaky Devil.”  My friend’s cliché is his way to describe the characteristic of being wily and crafty. 

             This morning I am going to speak a few minutes about the power of evil.  Christians think of evil in primarily two distinct but not opposing ways.

             First, some Christians think of evil as a very real separate being or personality called the Devil or Satan who opposes the ways and will of God in this world. He is understood to be out to induce people into sin, and his mission is to bring as much pain, suffering, estrangement, chaos and disharmony into the world - into your life and mine – as possible.   The word “Satan” actually comes from a Hebrew word that means “to obstruct” or” to oppose.”  The word “devil” comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for Satan, the Greek word “diabolos.” “Diabolos” literally means “accuser” or “slanderer.”  Our English word “diabolical” has its root here. 

             Second, other Christians think of Satan or the Devil more metaphorically, not so much as an individual being, but as the personification of all the evil forces in the world that obstruct and attempt to destroy God’s will and ways - in every age and every place.

             I don’t think it matters much which view you take, the more literal view or the more metaphorical view.  Both views acknowledge the reality of evil. Both views acknowledge that evil has power, and that evil’s purposes are dark and destructive. 

             The really important issue is the tactics of evil; the strategy of evil; evil’s methodology.  That’s a part of what Peter is talking about in this epistle this morning 

             My friend likes to say, “He’s a sneaky devil.”  When we apply my friend’s cliché to The Devil, however you think of him, literally or metaphorically, nothing could be more the truth. 

            “Discipline yourselves, keep alert.  Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour.” says Peter.

 “Like a roaring lion” The stalking habits of a cat are the perfect analogy for the tactics that evil employs.  Marcia and I are “cat people.”  In 36 years of marriage we have had cats about 30 of those years.  I love their sense of independence and rather blasé attitude about life in general.  But the thing about cats is just this.  At one moment they can be a ball of furry love, looking cute and innocent, tucked in the corner of a chair napping the afternoon away, but then when something catches their eye, a potential prey, they begin to stalk.  It’s fascinating to watch cats stalk, whether it a bug, a bird, a leaf, a ball of yarn or a toy mouse.  To use my friend’s cliché, “They are sneaky devils.” 

             The brain of all cats, big and small, is hard-wired to stalk and catch prey.  The mother cat does not have to teach the kittens how to hunt.  They know it instinctively. 

             For one thing they are patient.  I’ve seen our cats literally freeze in position for many minutes at a time, and not so much as twitch a whisker, focusing in totally on the unsuspecting prey.

             Another tactic is that they will blend into the environment.  They flatten their bodies down in the grass or hide in the bushes, and for all practical purposes they are invisible.  All looks safe and normal, but only a few feet away lurks the danger of the cat ready to pounce.

             Another tactic is that they will often not go in a straight line to their pray.  They will go out of their way, in circles in necessary, to get as close as they can, looking for an opening before they finally strike and it’s too late for the prey.

             When they do strike the feline hunter will often use a clean bite to the back of the prey’s neck, breaking the animal’s neck and severing the spinal cord. And then of course, after it’s over they usually bring their prey and drop it at the feet of the unappreciative owner.  Cats don’t always kill their prey but sometimes maim them or stun them.  Even though our cats were indoor cats, a couple of times when the sneaky little devils snuck out they brought back mice or ground squirrels they had not killed.

             One of our cats for years and years, right after we would go to bed, every night would go “hunting” in the house. Night after night, year after year, she would stalk and “kill” her toy mouse, and then, finally come down the hallway towards our bedroom, mouse in mouth, howling in victory and drop it at the foot of our bed.  Then, she would proudly jump up on the bed wanting some affirmation of her cunning.  She was a “sneaky devil.”

 That’s the analogy that Peter uses to describe the tactics of evil, the strategy of Satan, the methodology of the devil.

 Dear Friends:  All make look well, but Satan is on the prowl, and a part of what Peter is saying is that we need to “stay awake”; we need to “be alert”; we need to “pay attention”; and we need to be “disciplined” about doing it. 

 “Discipline yourselves, keep alert.  Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour.”

             But what does it mean to “discipline ourselves and to stay alert?”  I really think that most of the time we understand “staying alert” as an exercise in identifying the evil we see in others.  We often see ourselves as being above evil.  We see ourselves as being rather impervious to evil.  It’s been my observation that we very quickly see the “speck” in the other person’s eye, and we are quick to identify their specks; name their specks; and categorize their specks. 

 But it has also been my observation that as quick as we are to see the “specks” in our neighbor’s eye, we are reluctant to see the “logs” in our own eyes. I believe Jesus said something much like that, did he not?  In fact, I believe he said it in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew, chapter 7, verse 3, “Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye and not notice the log in your own eye?”

 When Peter said, ““Discipline yourselves, keep alert,”  we can take cues from Peter and Jesus about what that means. (“Discipline yourselves”  “Why do you… not notice the log in your own eye.”)  It’s a process that begins with our selves.  It begins with looking into our own eyes, and our own hearts, and our own souls, because I will tell you, the same evil, Devil, Satan or whatever you want to call him, that causes a suicide bomber to take the lives of innocent and unsuspecting people, wreaking pain and havoc, is the same Devil that is stalking you and me.  Thankfully none of us here will likely turn into suicide bombers, but the Devil may have other designs for us; perhaps more subtle plans, but no less devious and diabolical; plans that intend to invoke spiritual, emotional and physical suffering.

 “Discipline yourselves, Stay alert.”

 However, some might say:

- So, what is one little white lie going to matter? 

- So my worship habits have become inconsistent. My faith is sound and secure?

- So what’s it going to hurt if I have sex with my boyfriend or girlfriend? 

- What’s the big deal if I tell a racist joke just this once? 

- What’s the big concern over one little extra-marital fling? 

- What does it matter if I gossip just this once?

- Who cares if I laugh at someone else because they are different?

- What difference will it really make if I tweak the company’s books for my advantage just a little?

- Everybody’s getting blasted at the Saturday night parties on campus.  It’s just what everybody does.  There’s no real harm in it - no big deal.

 Satan rejoices when we talk ourselves into things and when we rationalize our way through things.  The Devil is pleased when we minimize certain sins and overlook our own “logs”, because like a cat stalking its prey, it provides an opening, an opening to move in for the kill; or if not the kill then to maim, cripple and throw our lives into chaos.

 “Discipline yourselves, keep alert.  Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith…”” 

I believe “disciplining ourselves” and “keeping alert” begins with looking within ourselves, seeing and confessing the “openings” we have provided for the Evil One to pounce into our lives. 

 It also means to keep centered in Jesus Christ.  When I was child I was one of those kids that other kids would pick on and laugh at.  I was a bit of a “geek” and had some other problems and was often the butt of someone’s joke.  When I look back I see it was my mother’s unconditional love that provided solace and healing in my life many times.  It was her love that gave me the courage and strength to go back to school.  I knew I could always go home to her love.  I was not a joke to her, but “the apple of her eye.”  It was her love that kept my heart from becoming hardened, angry and bitter.

 “Discipline yourselves, keep alert.”   The gospels tell us that Satan was looking for an opening in Jesus’ life right from the beginning when he was tempted in the wilderness.  Throughout his life and ministry evil stalked and followed Jesus until on the cross Satan made an all out assault to convert Jesus’ love to bitterness and anger.   But it was there that God won the great victory. Divine love won a victory.  Jesus never lost sight of his purpose and mission to love to the bitter end; never caved in to the wiles of the Devil; never surrendered himself to the Evil One. 

 Satan will have his days and moments of victory in our lives.  He is a “sneaky devil.”  There is no doubt. 

 But Just like I found solace, strength and healing in going home to my mother’s love, we too can find solace and strength in going home to and receiving the love and grace that flows from the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

 For it is in the person of Jesus Christ that we resist the Devil and become ever-more steadfast in our faith.  Thanks be to God who gives us the victory in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!